Researchers have concluded that an overabundance of estrogen is responsible for a vast number of today's health problems. This overabundance of estrogen is referred to as “estrogen dominance” and is an increasingly serious problem for both women and men. Some researchers believe that estrogen dominance is the primary cause of prostate enlargement and prostate cancer in men and a big risk factor for breast cancer in women.
Estrogen dominance can occur during the aging process and can also occur from exposure to estrogen-like substances in the environment known as “xenoestrogens.”
Xenoestrogens are synthetic substances that differ from those produced by living organisms and that imitate or enhance the effect of estrogens. The estrogenic stimulation is an unintended side-effect of these agents or their metabolites. Xenoestrogens are part of a heterogeneous group of chemicals that are hormone or endocrine disrupters. They differ from phytoestrogens (estrogenic substances from plants), mycoestrogens (estrogenic substances from fungi), and pharmacological estrogens (estrogenic action is intended). External estrogens from a variety of sources may have a cumulative effect upon living organisms, and xenoestrogens may be part of a larger picture of a process of estrogenization of the environment. Xenoestrogens have only been recently (less than 70 years) introduced into the environment, as produced by industrial, agricultural, and chemical companies.
Xenoestrogens have been implicated in a variety of medical problems. Foremost is the concern that xenoestrogens, as false messengers, disrupt the process of reproduction. Studies have implicated observations of disturbances in wildlife with estrogenic exposure. Reproductive issues, which are of concern in humans, are fetal exposure (perhaps leading to hypospadias) and decreased reproductive ability in men (i.e. decrease in sperm numbers). Another issue is the potential effect of xenoestrogens as oncogenes, specifically in relation to breast cancer.
Xenoestrogen environmental sources includes: commercially raised meat (beef, chicken and pork), canned foods, plastic food wraps, plastic drinking bottles, STYROFOAM cups, personal care products, cosmetics, birth control pills and spermicides, detergents, all artificial scents (air fresheners, perfumes, etc), pesticides and herbicides, paints, lacquers and solvents.
There are three basic estrogens: E3 (estriol), the least powerful and most beneficial, comprising 80-90% of human estrogen; E2 (estradiol), the most powerful and most carcinogenic; and E1 (estrone), which has similar properties to estradiol, but is considerably less biologically active. As men age, their levels of estrogen rise, especially the levels of estrone and estradiol, which are the two most dangerous and potent estrogens. This phenomenon is now identified as “andropause”. A man over 50 years of age literally has more estrogen than a postmenopausal woman. The prostate is embryologically the same as the uterus in females: and research studies have shown that, like the uterus, when prostate cells are exposed to excess estrogen, the cells proliferate and become cancerous. In fact it is becoming clear that the excess of estrogen in aging men is responsible for a variety of problems such as adiposity, breast development, many cancers, prostate problems, baldness and many other problems commonly associated with advanced age.
Men also produce progesterone, but only about half the amount that females do. During the aging process, progesterone levels in men fall, especially after age 60. Progesterone is the primary precursor of the male hormone testosterone, which is an antagonist to estradiol (E2) and a protector against certain types of cancer. Progesterone is vital to good health in both men and women.
The concurrent increase of estrogen levels and decrease of progesterone levels create a very serious hormonal imbalance that is very unhealthy. Either one of these hormonal level changes alone would be bad enough, but both changes occurring together leads to a vicious cycle.
Because progesterone is the chief inhibitor of an enzyme called 5-alpha reductase that is responsible for converting testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT), when the level of progesterone falls in men, the amount of conversion from testosterone to DHT increases. Increased levels of DHT lead to prostate enlargement and also an increased risk of cancer due to the decreased cancer protection that testosterone provides.
As the level of DHT increases (and testosterone decreases), the relative level of estradiol in men increases. This is compounded by the fact that there are inadequate amounts of progesterone present to exhibit its counteracting effect of stimulating the P53 cancer protection gene.
Like perimenopausal women, men experience a tendency to gain weight in midlife. Rising estrogen production can result because fat cells contain the aromatase enzyme that converts testosterone into estrogen. Unmetabolized estrogen creates a vicious cycle resulting in further estrogen production. This occurs because fat is one source of more active aromatase enzymes, causing further estrogen production and weight gain.
It is common for women to experience surges of abnormally high estrogen levels during menopausal and premenopausal periods, as well as earlier in life. It is believed that an excess of estrogen, coupled with a deficiency of progesterone (the counter hormone to estrogen), is the common denominator for a lot of female troubles.
Some women will develop the estrogen dominance syndrome much later in life, sometimes as a result of diet, liver impairment, or environmental factors or also as a result of anovulatory cycles before menopause—that is, menstrual cycles in which no ovulation has occurred. Ovulation is necessary in order to produce the corpus luteum, (which means “yellow body”) that is found on the surface of the ovary after ovulation. Surrounding the ripening egg, the corpus luteum remains after ovulation to produce progesterone for the last half of the menstrual cycle. Without ovulation, less progesterone is produced, which can cause estrogen imbalance in some women. Diseases or problems that are thought to be related to or affected by excess estrogen and deficient progesterone in women and men are: accelerated aging process; allergies; autoimmune disorders; breast cancer; cold hands and feet; decreased sex drive; depression; dry eyes; infertility; uterine cancer; fat gain in abdomen, hips, and thighs; fatigue; fibrocystic breast disease; hair loss; headaches; hypoglycemia; increased blood clotting; early onset of menstruation; menstrual disturbances (irregular and heavy bleeding); endometriosis (disorder of uterine tissue); insomnia; foggy thinking and memory loss; mood swings; ovarian cysts; pre-menopausal bone loss; prostate cancer; sluggish metabolism; thyroid dysfunction; uterine cancer; uterine fibroids; water retention; and bloating.